You know the drill. You receive an invitation to a baby shower six weeks in advance. The thought to sew a baby quilt enters your mind, but you put off the process. Gulp, 10 days before the event you decide to start the project.

That’s just what I did. Yet, I decided to go ahead and start the quilt with hopes of getting it done on time. I cut a few corners, taking a nontraditional approach to the actual quilting. I thought I’d share my weekend of sewing to create what I call a “Tummy Time Quilt!”

Quilt to Give—Baby Size

You might have read the 10-day Blog Tutorial on my Quilt to Give project. My objective with that tutorial was to show how to create full-sized bed quilts. My most recent project, the featured baby quilt, down-sized the quilt. You can read how to cut the columns of the quilt during day 2 of the tutorial. The difference is that the side strips are just 42″ long—the width of the fabric.

I created seven columns with the following solid strip colors—one royal blue, two turquoise, two lime green, and another two with the light green colors—showcasing the scrappy centers. The inner border was cut 1-1/2″ and the outer border 3″ wide. You can find out about borders on day 8 of the tutorial.

The finished quilt width was 48″, wider than a traditional width of fabric which is usually 42″–44″. Instead of buying two lengths of fabric for the backing in order to accommodate the width of the finished quilt, I cut one length of the backing fabric in half, made another column, and pieced the layers together. That was the smartest thing I’ve done in a long time!

To this point, the piecing took me about 6 hours on a Saturday afternoon. Granted, I’ve made this quilt before, so I’ve had a little experience! Plan on an 8-hour project so that you don’t have to sew like you’re running a marathon!

Monday morning, I asked one of my sewing studio stitchers to layer the quilt backing, batting, and top. I used Warm and Natural for the batting, one of my favorite battings. She pinned the layers together, preparing the project for the quilting portion.

Rather than stitch in the ditch, hand quilt (no time for that), or free-motion stitch to quilt the layers together, I opted to stitch a single decorative “star” at 4″ intervals. Check your owner’s manual as to how you stitch one single decorative stitch. On my Baby Lock, all I need to do is select the single stitch icon.

No specific measuring needed here, just use your fist as an approximate measurement. Mark with an air erasable fabric marking pen. Notice that the markings are not linear. It’s a lot easier to stitch quickly when the placement is staggered!

We changed thread colors a couple of times throughout the stitching process. We didn’t do it too many times as we were under a deadline.

Consider using contrasting thread in the bobbin so the “stars” shine through to the underside of the quilt.

I watched your program Saturday morning . I tried to order the binding foot for $19.99 but the person I spoke to did not know if the foot would fit on my Viking sewing machine so he told me to go to your web page. I told Tony what had happened and he said he was sorry but had to charge me the full amount which was $10.O0 more.
I was quite disappointed but ordered it anyway.

Nancy ZiemanJuly 24, 2013

Connie, let me check into this! Nancy

Sheila PerlJuly 23, 2013

Very nice quilt, Nancy and I love the decorative stitching idea!
I quilting a baby quilt right now and I wish I’d read this idea before I started quilting it!!!

JeanneJuly 23, 2013

For the contrasting stars on the back of the quilt, what type of thread did you use in the bobbin? I thought you could just use embroidery bobbin thread, but I really like this idea! Great blog!

DebbyJuly 23, 2013

I’ve been known to wait until the night before an event to decide that a quilt is the perfect gift. Somehow always manage to get it done and still get some sleep.

Bonnie ThiemJuly 23, 2013

I love this idea, Nancy. It’s so quick and easy. There’s no thinking involved. Great idea. Thanks.

Jacky MeyesJuly 23, 2013

This came at the right time as we are looking forward to a
new little one in our family! Had thought of using a quilt
design in the middle of squares however this will be much
quicker. Thank you for sharing.
Jacky

Liz ManciniJuly 23, 2013

Thank you for sharing, this is something I can make with my granddaughter who is learning to sew. It weill be something she wioo have for many years

SharonJuly 23, 2013

Thank you Nancy..I love the decorative stitching tip, I will definitely be using this tip for a future quilt. And to think I thought I was the only one to wait till the last minute to make a baby quilt.